Ravinia 2019, Issue 6, Week 11

The playing of even the best Chinese orchestras long lagged behind that of their counterparts in the West, but they are quickly catching up and attracting international attention, especially the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Famed American conductor Leonard Slatkin, who celebrated his upcoming th birthday at Ravinia leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on August , has been traveling to Asia as a guest conductor for nearly four decades. He led three of mainland China’s orchestras in March and was particularly impressed with the Shanghai ensemble. “ e level of [talent] in that orchestra in the three years since I conducted there last and this year was markedly higher,” Slatkin says. “It’s become a very important orchestra, and they play very well.” e Shanghai Symphony is enjoying a major moment in the spotlight. e orchestra is marking its th anniversa- ry with its rst-ever studio album on the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon la- bel and a three-week world tour. Its itinerary includes stops at Amsterdam’s famed Concertgebouw and debuts at the BBC Proms and Edin- burgh International Festival in Great Britain and Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA. e trip also features the orchestra’s rst-ever appear- ance in the Midwest at the Ravinia Festival on August , with famed cellist Alisa Wei- lerstein as guest soloist. It is a return visit for its esteemed music director, Long Yu, who conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra there in with Chinese pianist Lang Lang, “I was very impressed with this most famous festival,” Yu says. “I’m so glad that I can take my hometown orchestra and visit Ravinia this year again.” 10 RAVINIA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 12 – AUGUST 2 5, 2019